No matter if you’re part of the art or geek scene, light painting has become a recent trend blending the two. The medium has evolved to something more than just waving flashlights in front of a camera with a long exposure. It requires an understanding of photography as well as the hardware and software that make these projects possible.

The trend of using a “light wand,” or and LED RGB light strip, began with a group of artists that wanted to map urban WiFi signals. This project created a visual landscape of technology we couldn’t see before, giving perspective on something we use everyday. After the release of art group’s video, it branched out into something else entirely—geeks and artists alike were creating floating pixelated images.

The LightScythe project was one of the first to be directly influenced by the art initiative. But rather than mapping WiFi signals, he used the concept of the light wand and a camera set to a high exposure time to create floating images and text. To anyone not aware of the tech behind the trick, it seems as if the future of holograms is already here. In reality, it’s a light stick being slowly moved across a designated space while a camera takes a photo at a long exposure setting.